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European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell accused the Israeli government on Tuesday of breaking international law by imposing a total blockade of Gaza in response to the attack by Palestinian militant group Hamas on Israel.
After an emergency meeting to discuss the repercussions of the attack, Borrell also said an "overwhelming majority" of EU foreign ministers supported continuing aid payments for the Palestinian Authority, which governs the West Bank.
Borrell made his statement the day after European Commissioner Oliver Varhelyi, a Hungarian diplomat, said all EU development aid for Palestinians was suspended - only for the Commission to disown his announcement after a backlash from EU governments.
Borrell had invited the Israeli and Palestinian foreign ministers to take part by video conference in the meeting in Muscat, Oman.
But Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen did not want to participate in a meeting that would also be addressed by Palestinian Authority minister Riyad al-Maliki so neither ended up taking part, officials said.
Borrell repeated the EU's condemnation of attacks by Hamas that killed more than 1,000 Israelis, most of them civilians.
But he said Israel's response - which has so far killed at least 770 Gazans, according to local officials - had to be in line with international humanitarian law and a decision to impose a total blockade on Gaza contravened this standard.
"Israel has the right to defend (itself) but it has to be done accordingly with international law, humanitarian law, and some decisions are contrary to international law," he told reporters after the meeting.
Continuing Conflicts That Create Refugees - October 2023
Severely Deteriorated Situations: Palestine/Israel
This is an ongoing military and political conflict in the Levant. Beginning in the mid-20th century, it is one of the world's longest-continuing conflicts with no end in Sight.
As of Monday morning, 9th October, the death toll is over 1,100. An estimated 700 people have been Killed on the Israeli side, with more than 400 Dead in Gaza.
Deteriorated Situations
Kosovo, Nagorno-Karabakh, Burkina Faso, Mali, Haiti, Burundi, Pakistan
Kosovo The fragile calm in northern shattered as a group of heavily armed Serbs clashed with Kosovo police. The military-grade weapons seized from the attackers indicate Serbs in the north are preparing for a fight.
Azerbaijan launched a military operation in Nagorno-Karabakh, claiming victory after 24 hours and ending the enclave’s de-facto self-governance. Fearful of their future under Baku’s rule, tens of thousands fled into Armenia (see “Conflict in Focus”).
Mali’s ruling junta postponed the presidential election due in February, further pushing back the timeline for a return to constitutional order. Meanwhile, violence escalated between 2015 peace deal signatories, and jihadists stepped up deadly attacks in the north.
DR Congo-based rebels launched a deadly attack into Burundi for the first time since 2021, leading to deadly clashes with government and allied forces.
Pakistan, twin suicide bombings in the provinces bordering Afghanistan killed at least 59 people amid a spate of militant attacks. Deadly clashes between Pakistani and Taliban forces along the Afghan border temporarily closed the Torkham crossing.
Dominican Republic closed its border with Haiti over a canal dispute, which risks aggravating the country’s humanitarian crisis. Rampant gang violence in the capital triggered mass displacement.
Nagorno-Karabakh Conflict
Azerbaijan launched a military offensive in Nagorno-Karabakh. After 24 hours of heavy artillery bombardment and a ground offensive, de facto authorities surrendered, leaving Azerbaijan in control of the territory. Fighting left hundreds dead and many more wounded, though exact numbers are difficult to ascertain. Fearful of their future under Baku’s rule, tens of thousands fled into Armenia.
Why does it matter? Azerbaijan’s definitive victory marks an end to three decades of de facto self-governance for the majority ethnic-Armenian enclave and once again shifts the power balance in the volatile South Caucasus. Both residents who are fleeing the region and those few who may decide to stay face an uncertain future.
Aside from the scores of conflict situations we regularly assess, we tracked significant developments in:
Benin, Ecuador, Gabon, Ghana, Guatemala, Madagascar, Togo, Nile Waters.
Improved Situations
Western Sahara
Conflict Risk Alerts
Kosovo: The fragile calm in northern Kosovo shattered as a group of heavily armed Serbs clashed with Kosovo police. The military-grade weapons seized from the attackers indicate Serbs in the north are preparing for a fight.
Resolution Opportunities
None
Source: CrisisWatch Tracking Conflict Worldwide
- https://www.crisisgroup.org/crisiswatch
Armenia
More than 100,000 ethnic Armenians from Nagorno-Karabakh have sought refuge in Armenia following Azerbaijan’s mid-September offensive that ended the enclave’s de facto self-rule. Beyond providing them with food, shelter and health care, says Crisis Group expert Olesya Vartanyan, it is vital to plan for the future. Not only are the new arrivals traumatised by war, but many also speak a dialect that people in Armenia cannot understand. Yerevan will likely require outside aid and expertise to help them integrate. Authorities should take care that programming is gender-responsive, meeting the particular needs of women, children and the elderly.
Haiti
The UN Security Council authorised a new multinational mission in Haiti on Monday. Crisis Group expert Diego Da Rin says specialised foreign forces, which could deploy within three months, will likely help police reduce the unprecedented ferocity of gang violence in the country as well as ease the flow of humanitarian aid. But it remains crucial that acting Prime Minister Ariel Henry reach an agreement with a broad cross-section of the opposition to form a transitional government with proper checks and balances. In the absence of such an accord, many Haitians may see the mission merely as a means for Henry and his allies to strengthen their hold on power.
Turkey
The Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) bombed police headquarters in Ankara on Sunday, the first time it has hit the Turkish capital since 2016. The group is likely trying to demonstrate resilience with the attack; it has been under significant pressure from the Turkish military on the battlefield. Ankara retaliated immediately with a wave of arrests inside Turkey as well as airstrikes on PKK and allied targets in northern Iraq and northern Syria, straining ties with Washington. The U.S. said it shot down an armed Turkish drone Wednesday flying close to its troops in Syria. Ankara denied the drone belonged to the Turkish armed forces. Crisis Group expert Berkay Mand?rac?says the four-decade conflict will now likely escalate further with the Turkish military doubling down on trying to weaken the PKK and the latter pushing back.
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Their atrocities do not justify your atrocities. The brutality of their war crimes does not diminish the brutality of your war crimes. Their inhumanity pushes you into inhumanity, which pushes theirs further, again and again until the world around you is reduced to ashes. Andrew Stroehlein, Media Director of Human Rights Watch
The civilian toll from the fighting in Israel/Palestine over the weekend was devastating, even compared to the appalling toll of the decades-long conflict.
This latest wave of extreme violence began on Saturday when Hamas and other Palestinian armed groups breached the fences separating Gaza from Israel. They attacked neighbouring Israeli communities, infiltrated homes, apparently slaughtered civilians en masse, and took dozens of Israeli civilians hostage inside the Gaza Strip.
They also reportedly indiscriminately launched more than 3,000 rockets toward Israeli population centres.
As of Sunday, attacks by Palestinian armed groups had killed more than 677 Israelis and foreign nationals, including civilians, according to Israeli sources cited by the United Nations . Subsequent Israeli airstrikes in Gaza left at least 413 Palestinians dead, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health in Gaza .
Mass violence continues as I write this, and the number of civilians killed continues to rise.
Of course, everyone realizes that this conflict did not start over the weekend , even though current levels of violence are unprecedented.
Israeli authorities have systematically repressed Palestinians for decades and imposed a crushing closure on the population of Gaza since 2007 . The Gaza Strip - a strip of land measuring 40 by 11 kilometers - has essentially been an open-air prison for more than 16 years.
Furthermore, Palestinians in the Occupied Palestinian Territory have recently been subject to what is perhaps unprecedented repression. In the first nine months of 2023, Israeli authorities have killed more Palestinians in the West Bank than in any year since the United Nations began keeping records in 2005.
In October, the number of Palestinians placed in administrative detention by Israel without charge or trial, based on secret information, reached its highest level in 30 years .
The systematic oppression of the Israeli government in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, coupled with inhumane acts committed against Palestinians as part of a policy aimed at maintaining the domination of Jewish Israelis over Palestinians, constitutes crimes of apartheid and persecution – c 'that is to say crimes against humanity.
However, does this inhumane repression that has lasted for years justify the brutal attacks by Palestinian armed groups? No. Never. It may be part of the context, but it is not an excuse.
The deliberate targeting of civilians by Palestinian armed groups, their indiscriminate attacks and their hostage-taking of civilians constitute war crimes under international humanitarian law .
On Saturday, Israel's energy minister announced that Israeli authorities would no longer provide electricity to Gaza's 2.2 million residents. This measure, along with other punitive measures against the civilian population of Gaza, would amount to illegal collective punishment, which also constitutes a war crime.
I know supporters of this conflict will accuse me of “ false balancing,” but that is how international law is supposed to work. The laws of war apply to all parties in a conflict.
The real problem – the reason this conflict persists – is that these laws are not implemented in practice. The same goes for the norms of international law in general, including respect for fundamental human rights. People continue to commit serious crimes on both sides, and the perpetrators of these crimes get away with impunity.
During previous rounds of hostilities, Human Rights Watch has documented serious violations of the laws of war by Israeli forces and Palestinian armed groups.
In previous conflicts in Gaza, Israel has repeatedly carried out indiscriminate airstrikes that killed dozens of civilians – wiping out entire families – and strikes targeting civilians or civilian infrastructure, including the destruction of towers in Gaza housing homes and businesses, while there were no obvious military targets nearby.
Palestinian armed groups have indiscriminately launched thousands of rockets, which violates the laws of war and constitutes a war crime. Human Rights Watch has been calling on Palestinian armed groups to stop these illegal attacks for years, including in a recent exchange of letters with Hamas authorities.
It is difficult to see how the cycles of violence in Israel/Palestine – brutality in response to brutality, again and again – will end without justice for crimes like these.
In 2021, the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) opened a formal investigation into serious crimes committed in Palestine, which is a member of the ICC. The current fighting shows that there is an urgent need for the prosecutor to speed up his investigations into serious crimes committed by all parties.
The sooner governments around the world understand that justice is essential to peace and make it their top priority in the region, the sooner we can hope for an end to these horrors.
Human Rights Watch: https://tinyurl.com/5n7su74c
RAPAR Annual General Meeting 2023
The RAPAR Annual General Meeting is fast approaching, and we'd like to share the details with you!
At 6pm on Wednesday the 18th of October, we shall be meeting at the Friends Meeting House (6 Mount St, Manchester M2 5NS) to celebrate our work and plan for the upcoming year. If you can't attend in person, then please join us online, using the Zoom link below.
RAPAR (Refugee and Asylum Participatory Action Research) is a human rights organisation based in Manchester, UK, which is primarily concerned with displaced people, and issues relating to displaced people.
RAPAR Annual General Meeting 2023
6pm 18th of October 2023
https://us06web.zoom.us/j/89936719999?pwd=EbG6Uaatp3jXQJ8Z4eW67obK0BOEaj.1
Meeting ID: 899 3671 9999
Passcode: 268874
Further Information: RAPAR <admin@rapar.org.uk>
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